Anti-democratic violence is not new in the United States. Learners watch videos and then compare and contrast the 1873 Colfax and the 1898 Wilmington massacres. They then watch a video about the Capitol Hill insurrection of 2021 and...

After the Revolutionary War, the success of the United States was far from guaranteed. Foreign powers coveted the new land, and Great Britain challenged American sovereignty. Learners consider the challenges facing the new nation using...

The Bill of Rights is a foundational document of American democracy, much like the Nuremberg Laws were a foundational document of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany. But that's where their similarities end. Engage high schoolers in a...

Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...

Discover the challenges in educating immigrant children at the turn of the 20th century. Reforms that New York City schools used are described here and data is included for your class to analyze, in its evaluation of the effectiveness of...

Anthony Mann's 1953 film biography, The Glenn Miller Story, is the focus of a series of activities that introduce class members to Miller's life and music. Of particular interest to music students will be the cameos by many famous...

Students read the novel, "The Diary of Anne Frank". Using the internet, they gather information on the effect of the Versailles Treaty, formation of the Weimer Republic and the Nazi Party on the Holocaust. They view propaganda...

Fourth graders work with a partner to create a puppet show that demonstrates the condition of the prisoners in Andersonville, Georgia during the Civil War.

A pet can offer comfort, friendship, and loyalty in the most stressful of situations. Here is a lesson plan that explores the important role animals played during the Civil War. Class members read informative texts, complete a...

What famous children's author and illustrator created World War II political cartoons featuring such subjects as fascism, the war effort, discrimination, and the dangers of isolationism? The who in this story is Dr. Seuss, and what...

Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...

The 1980's was an interesting time for the American economic system. This presentation relates the lead to and the effects of Reaganomics, Trickle down economy, and Clintonomics. Embedded links, works cited, and images are included. A...

Primary historical sources can be a challenge for some readers, so these seven guided-reading questions will be very useful to US History or Government classes studying The Articles of Confederation. Each question has multiple parts and...

Introduce a study of the presidency of Andrew Jackson with a instructional activity that uses video clips, primary source documents, group activities, and debates to examine Jackson's early life and career. The instructional activity...

High schoolers examine the impact of WWII on the development of jazz music and consider how jazz music helped to boost morale of both soldiers and those left at home. They identify the function of jazz as a cultural export and discuss...

Young historians consider the cause and effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. They use handouts, response sheets, and class discussion to build an opinion about the subject after viewing the PBS documentary Abraham and Mary Lincoln:...

Eighth graders explore the role of Jefferson Davis and his leadership of the Confederacy during the Civil War. They examine the command system used in the Confederacy and analyze the effectiveness of the command system.

Students analyze the significance of Jamestown in the broader picture of colonization and analyze a historical document to determine the effects of previous explorations on the expectations of the Jamestown colonizers

Seventh graders investigate the role of South Carolina in the Spanish American War. In this imperialism lesson, 7th graders analyze primary documents and photographs, in collaborative groups, to determine how the state was involved in...

What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...

Seventh graders discover who the Tejanas were and how they contributed to World War II. In this World War II lesson, 7th graders listen to their instructor discuss who the Tejanas were prior to researching the contributions of three of...

Offering a comprehensive overview of the beginning of World War II, this resource could be a useful addition to a unit on this topic. It could be used as a way to lead a discussion on the war, or as a review tool before a test. Either...

Students listen to data on African American women in Texas before the Civil War. In this Civil War instructional activity, students compare and contrast the lives of slave and free women, and discuss case studies, locating areas on a...

World War I was the first major conflict on a global scale. Using primary documents, learners determine why the United States chose to enter World War I when it did. After analytical writing and group research, the causes of America's...